< Ricardo "Finito" Lopez > Tribute video ~ Must see!!

Just came across this highlight video of the great Ricardo "Finito" Lopez..
Def. a video that is well put and one of the best tribute videos I've seen.

I hope for those who are not too familiar with Lopez or have not seen much of him can see here in this highlight video what he was about.
Just pay attention to his lateral movements. You just dont see much of that now. He yuses the entire ring and finds his spots if he has nothing he resets and looks for another angle.
Pay attention to his left hand how he holds it up when hes at a stance. (Signature stance taught by Nacho)
Pay attention to the hand speed, combinations and the precise punching he used. More widely known for his boxing skills notice the brutal punching and KO's he had. He hit well with both hands and could either trade shots or out box you.

Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQfc58XeQXQ

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Originally Posted by CutMeMick

Just came across this highlight video of the great Ricardo "Finito" Lopez..
Def. a video that is well put and one of the best tribute videos I've seen.

I hope for those who are not too familiar with Lopez or have not seen much of him can see here in this highlight video what he was about.
Just pay attention to his lateral movements. You just dont see much of that now. He yuses the entire ring and finds his spots if he has nothing he resets and looks for another angle.
Pay attention to his left hand how he holds it up when hes at a stance. (Signature stance taught by Nacho)
Pay attention to the hand speed, combinations and the precise punching he used. More widely known for his boxing skills notice the brutal punching and KO's he had. He hit well with both hands and could either trade shots or out box you.

Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQfc58XeQXQ

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One of my favorite fighters of all time truly a special fighter, he reminds me of JMM everytime i see him. But Ricardo Lopez was more offensive, one of the things that stands out to me. Is that just before the round starts, he always has his hands up in his boxing stance, ready to start the round.

I don't think i've ever seen a fighter do that before, i also recently just see his war with Rosendo Alvarez there 2nd fight. Wow what a war that was, and thats probably the first real time i've ever seen Ricardo Lopez had to really dig deep to win a fight, he was cut in 3 different places. His face looked like a bloody mess, yet it didn't seem to bother him at all.

And he kept his combination punching flowing beautifully. He made a big improvement in the rematch, by throwing combinations in 3s, 4s, instead of throwing single punches like he did in there first meeting.

Overall amazing fighter the most skilled Mexican fighter of all time easily for me, the complete package great heart, great stamina, great power, great speed, great chin. Probably the most complete boxer i've ever seen.

im not suprise ice is the first to respond ;D

yea guys that guy is an awesome boxer.

Impressive !!!

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Originally Posted by ICB

he reminds me of JMM everytime i see him. But Ricardo Lopez was more offensive, one of the things that stands out to me. Is that just before the round starts, he always has his hands up in his boxing stance, ready to start the round.

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That's because they were both trained by Nacho Beristein.
The stance you see is Nachos signature stance you often see boxers he trained in that stance.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ICB

thats probably the first real time i've ever seen Ricardo Lopez had to really dig deep to win a fight, he was cut in 3 different places. His face looked like a bloody mess, yet it didn't seem to bother him at all.

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Those 2 fights were def. his toughest...
Guardia had him bleeding from the nose in their fight and was able to land some good shots.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ICB

Overall amazing fighter the most skilled Mexican fighter of all time easily for me, the complete package. Probably the most complete boxer i've ever seen.

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I've said it myself... Lopez along with Alexis are the most complete fighters my eyes have ever seen.
The closest thing to perfection is Lopez.

The most complete BOX/FIGHTER i have ever seen , if he had any weaknesses i didn't see any :)

A truely "GREAT" fighter who let his fists do the talking.

Being Puerto Rican, the rivalry between Puerto Rican and Mexican fighters has always been intense within me. Naturally, I root for the hometown fighter whenever there's a matchup. I've also disliked some all-time Mexican greats, such as Julio Cesar Chavez, Eric Morales, Fernando Vargas, and De La Hoya (if you count Mexican heritage on a U.S.-based fighter).

But two Mexican fighters that rank among my favorites are Marco Antonio Barrera and Ricardo "Finito" Lopez. In Barrera's case, I liked his humble nature and no-nonsense fighting style even BEFORE he embarassed Naseem Hamed. After that, he became a hero of mine.

With "Finito", even though he took out a popular P.R. champ in Alex "Nene" Sanchez, I've always admired the consumate skill of this fighter. A feared puncher, a perfect boxing stylist... this guy had it all. And such an unassuming character. He had all the right to brag, and never did. He just took on and beat all comers. Classic fighter, and one of my all-time favorites.

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Originally Posted by TitoFan

Being Puerto Rican, the rivalry between Puerto Rican and Mexican fighters has always been intense within me. Naturally, I root for the hometown fighter whenever there's a matchup. I've also disliked some all-time Mexican greats, such as Julio Cesar Chavez, Eric Morales, Fernando Vargas, and De La Hoya (if you count Mexican heritage on a U.S.-based fighter).

But two Mexican fighters that rank among my favorites are Marco Antonio Barrera and Ricardo "Finito" Lopez. In Barrera's case, I liked his humble nature and no-nonsense fighting style even BEFORE he embarassed Naseem Hamed. After that, he became a hero of mine.

With "Finito", even though he took out a popular P.R. champ in Alex "Nene" Sanchez, I've always admired the consumate skill of this fighter. A feared puncher, a perfect boxing stylist... this guy had it all. And such an unassuming character. He had all the right to brag, and never did. He just took on and beat all comers. Classic fighter, and one of my all-time favorites.

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Class post Tito sometimes as fans it's hard to give fighters their dues when they are beating your countrymen.

But in the case of "Finito" you just can't help it but be in aww! of his skills.

You rarely saw him against the ropes and as I stated his ring generalship was outstanding. The precise punching he used like his trademark uppercuts were things of beauty. The brillaint hooks where he would rotate his whole upper body and what do you say about the straight right hand? Shit was fast and with some top caliber power.

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Originally Posted by CutMeMick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TitoFan

Being Puerto Rican, the rivalry between Puerto Rican and Mexican fighters has always been intense within me. Naturally, I root for the hometown fighter whenever there's a matchup. I've also disliked some all-time Mexican greats, such as Julio Cesar Chavez, Eric Morales, Fernando Vargas, and De La Hoya (if you count Mexican heritage on a U.S.-based fighter).

But two Mexican fighters that rank among my favorites are Marco Antonio Barrera and Ricardo "Finito" Lopez. In Barrera's case, I liked his humble nature and no-nonsense fighting style even BEFORE he embarassed Naseem Hamed. After that, he became a hero of mine.

With "Finito", even though he took out a popular P.R. champ in Alex "Nene" Sanchez, I've always admired the consumate skill of this fighter. A feared puncher, a perfect boxing stylist... this guy had it all. And such an unassuming character. He had all the right to brag, and never did. He just took on and beat all comers. Classic fighter, and one of my all-time favorites.

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Class post Tito sometimes as fans it's hard to give fighters their dues when they are beating your countrymen (thanks, bro :)).

But in the case of "Finito" you just can't help it but be in aww! of his skills.

You rarely saw him against the ropes and as I stated his ring generalship was outstanding. The precise punching he used like his trademark uppercuts were things of beauty. The brillaint hooks where he would rotate his whole upper body and what do you say about the straight right hand? Shit was fast and with some top caliber power.

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"Finito" was downright scary at that weight. If I'd been a fighter at that weight during his reign I probably would've said something to the effect of: "Yeah, I'm avoiding him... so what?"

;D

I'd love to of seen Ricardo Lopez up against fighters like Roman Gonzalez, Ivan Calderon, Michael Carbajal, Humberto Gonzalez.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CutMeMick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ICB

he reminds me of JMM everytime i see him. But Ricardo Lopez was more offensive, one of the things that stands out to me. Is that just before the round starts, he always has his hands up in his boxing stance, ready to start the round.

---

That's because they were both trained by Nacho Beristein.
The stance you see is Nachos signature stance you often see boxers he trained in that stance.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ICB

thats probably the first real time i've ever seen Ricardo Lopez had to really dig deep to win a fight, he was cut in 3 different places. His face looked like a bloody mess, yet it didn't seem to bother him at all.

---

Those 2 fights were def. his toughest...
Guardia had him bleeding from the nose in their fight and was able to land some good shots.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ICB

Overall amazing fighter the most skilled Mexican fighter of all time easily for me, the complete package. Probably the most complete boxer i've ever seen.

---

I've said it myself... Lopez along with Alexis are the most complete fighters my eyes have ever seen.
The closest thing to perfection is Lopez.

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I'll start watching Alexis Arguello soon i have got a number of his fights, on my computer i've watched a few but haven't watched as many as i would like to. I'll get around to watching him soon but your right about Alexis Arguello, pin-point accurate puncher who never really had any flaws. Speed, Power, Defense, he did have it all. Those kind of fighters could of been at the top of there division in any era.

If you watch a lot of his hooks, he Loops them on purpose :D The reason he does it is because as soon as he does it, he dips his body the other way and then shortens the arc of the punch and them hits the mofo's every time.

He was brutal and sneaky. All about angles and his opponents could not tell where the punch was going.

Awesome HL. It drives me nuts when you see "best mexican fighter" lists, and you see the usual suspects (Chavez, Barrera, Morales, Sanchez, ect ect) but Lopez is missing.

In my eyes he was the best fighter Mexico ever produced and one of the best fighters in the history of the sport. Its a shame he fought at weights that only serious boxing fans follow.

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Originally Posted by Beanflicker

Awesome HL. It drives me nuts when you see "best mexican fighter" lists, and you see the usual suspects (Chavez, Barrera, Morales, Sanchez, ect ect) but Lopez is missing.

In my eyes he was the best fighter Mexico ever produced and one of the best fighters in the history of the sport. Its a shame he fought at weights that only serious boxing fans follow.

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The top 5 skilled Mexican fighters of all time are.

In this order.

Ricardo Lopez
Miguel Canto
Salvador Sanchez
Juan Manuel Marquez
Marco Antonio Barrera

Probably something like that and the top 10 best Mexican fighters of all time.

Julio Cesar Chavez
Ruben Olivares
Ricardo Lopez
Miguel Canto
Marco Antonio Barrera
Erik Morales
Salvador Sanchez
Carlos Zarate
Vincente Saldivar
Kid Azteca

Something that annoys me is when people say he didn't have hall of fame competition which is why his record is not impressive.

The thing is the lower weights especially Straweight is not on the same boat as the rest of the divisions. This is mainly in the lower weights.

Here's what I mean, fighters in the lower weights get title shots sooner/earlier in their careers then they do at the higher weights.

So you'll look at a Straweights record and it'll look like 21-3 and you'll say well what a short career. But when you actually study his record you'll see he fought something like 6 title bouts won 3 lost 3 and beat some top names. That may not look to be hall of fame career compared to Hagler or Duran but again it's because the careers at the lower weights seems to be shorter. Take Petelo for example his career ended at 17-5-2 hardly a monstrous career decorated with longevity but again look closer you'll see he fought Sor Vorapin, Jamili, Rubillar, Zolile & Lopez. He defended his IBF title 5 times before loosing to Lopez. That resume to me is a hall resume again considering the way careers go at the lower weight.

I think the Hall needs to update/revise a lot of things as far as their induction requirements. You can't measure careers when the lower weights are not on the same boat it's unfair to them IMO.

Anyway back to Lopez and his opposition.
I think he fought the best opposition available to him Ohashi, Saman, Kermin, Sanchez, Alvarez, Grisby, Vorapin & Petelo.
IMO all hall material for the small guys. So to me when I read things like he never fought top/hall opposition I just can't help but think that the people want to see opponents who had long careers with titles and all that but it's not the case.

Even today I mean in recent times did Calderon have any hall of fame names? Shit I just remembered he himself fought the same Sanchez, Lopez fought yrs. ago...
He moved up in weight and fought Cazares whos the biggest name on his resume. Yutaka himself, his best win is over Chana other then that he's got top names. I think Yutakas def. hall for a Straweight...

Nice intense Vid there.Awesome find.Lopez was a sensation with laser sighting on his punches.Shame King kept him buried on cards early on while all along he was, in many cases, the best fighter he had. It seems he is one of those greats that is fully realized only after the career is completed.Prior to him and not until the sun was setting on Lopez's career,Ring Magazine did not even recognize 105 in the rankings.

It always frustrated me that he would not jump up and tangle with many guys mentioned.The dream fight was with Carbajal who,with the two fisted help of Humberto Gonzalez,was busy putting the Jr.Flys on the map.Lopez vs. Carbajal would have been a great battle.I Love Carbajal, one of my all time favorites.But all things considered.....Lopez beats him.Oh that hurt just to say.I think Lopez could manage the weight and takes a tough 12 round decision.Carbajal was stellar but he could be boxed.If you only boxed on the back foot,Carbajal would cut you down and assert himself,nice left hooks.But if you boxed him and used mobility AND brought a decent punch (and yes,a good chin) you could pull it off.Gonzalez made very nice adjustments in their follow up meetings with strong boxing,even with a crimson mask.I thought Michael took the 2nd fight,scoring objectively,of course;D.

Lopez was just too damn mobile/versatile,very accurate pin point combination puncher and could come off the back foot so fast or off the side to touch you up badly before you knew what hit you,kept you very honest and if you wavered,he would take you out :fight:.

I'll say the guy that probably tested him was Rosendo Alvarez. Some people were questioning the draw and he was the only guy to knock him down ever in his career and leave his face full of blood. I would have to go see it again. His victory against Vorapin was nice. A guy with KO power who I believe is still fighting in Asia.

Perfect poise, balance, skills, jab, right hand, left hook. What is there not to like about the perfect fighter.

nice. very nice!